Modded skyrim build

[brookfang]

My current laptop, if you can call it that, is the massive RoG Asus G74SX. I've had it for nearly three years and am looking to move to a desktop, since that is basically how I am using my Asus anyway. I've heard that desktops are faster and more powerful, and was wondering if this build would even be better than my Asus PC, especially considering my Asus has an i7. I went super cheap on everything I could other than the CPU and the graphics card. The PC will be used for heavily modded skyrim, World of Warcraft, and probably batman. Yeah, definitely batman. Any and all help is appreciated, especially if that help lowers the price.
My current computer: https://www.asus.com/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-G74SX/specifications/
My new prototype build: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/bgvrNG

 

[Victorion]

While you picked some good components, your priorities are wrong. Your main focus should be one the video card, and what it needs - not how awesome a cpu you can get. That will translate into alot more gaming power for the same money.
Also your psu isn´t meant for gaming temperatures.

I made a quick build for you in canadian dollars, that will translate into twice the gaming power for the same money. I skipped the optical drive and wifi-card, as chances are you never gonna use the optical drive anyways and you should run lan-cabled internet for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($230.01 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.01 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($81.77 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($404.01 @ Vuugo)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Rosewill 600W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($86.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $951.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-04 03:46 EST-0500

 

[sizzling]

For modded Skyrim you want a great gpu with lots of VRAM. Id have doubts about a 970 due to its claimed 3.5gb issue. Although I prefer Nvidia for better driver support Id look at the 8gb VRAM versions of the 390 or 390X

 

[Victorion]

For modded Skyrim you want a great gpu with lots of VRAM. Id have doubts about a 970 due to its claimed 3.5gb issue. Although I prefer Nvidia for better driver support Id look at the 8gb VRAM versions of the 390 or 390X

390x would be a better card, but it´s also priced $150 higher than GTX 970 in canada.

$574.99 @ Newegg Canada for Asus R9 390x.

In that case, he could just as well go for a nVidia GTX 980TI and an even better card. GTX 970 is the best card for the money.

 

[sizzling]

Which is why I also said the 8gb 390. Modding Skyrim is known to eat huge amounts of vram

 

[brookfang]

So I decided to adopt both solutions, seen here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/LnzQrH
I am still wondering if this would be better than the Asus G74SX though. Also do either of the incompatibilities matter? Thanks for the help so far, I just want to get this cleared up before I call it solved. Oh, and one more thing. My friend said I should go for DDR-4 ram rather than DDR-3, is this really important? One more thing actually. I was thinking of getting a motherboard with 4 slots just in case I ever feel like upgrading, would it be worth it to get a http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97anniversary or http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97mpro4 instead or is 8gb all I will ever need? Thanks

 

[Victorion]

So I decided to adopt both solutions, seen here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/LnzQrH
I am still wondering if this would be better than the Asus G74SX though. Also do either of the incompatibilities matter? Thanks for the help so far, I just want to get this cleared up before I call it solved. Oh, and one more thing. My friend said I should go for DDR-4 ram rather than DDR-3, is this really important? One more thing actually. I was thinking of getting a motherboard with 4 slots just in case I ever feel like upgrading, would it be worth it to get a http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97anniversary or http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97mpro4 instead or is 8gb all I will ever need? Thanks

DDR3 vs DDR4 differences for gaming is negligible.
- Cas latency is lower on DDR3 than DDR4 (and you want it to be as low as possible).
- DDR4 can archieve higher Mhz (and this you want too)
- DDR4 has higher density, meaning you´ll mostly see a max of 8 GB ramsticks at ddr3 where as it is not unusual to see 16 GB sticks in DDR4. With a limited number of ram slots on a mobo, this favours DDR4.

In reality, 8 GB of ram is more than you need for games, and it doesn´t look like we´re gonna see any games in the near future that is going to crave more than 8 GB either. Also, rams are so ridicoulous fast, that it doesn´t really matter if you have a 8 GB stick of 1600mhz DDR3 or you have 64 GB of 3200 Mhz DDR4. The GPU will bottleneck long before the rams do.

As of for R9 390, it beats the GTX 970 for modded Skyrim, and a few other titles. GTX 970 will outperform R9 390 in some other titles as well. Overall R9 has a bit more power, and it´s not a bad purchase, but before you get buyers remorse, consider:

- R9 390 is essentially just a rebranded, higherclocked 290 card with more memory
- R9 390 is loud, hot and won´t overclock well.
- R9 390 card is massive, takes up 2½-3 slots and it may not fit in your mobo without blocking other parts like ram slots.
- You may want increased cooling


- GTX 970 is cheaper, uses less power and runs more silent
- nVidia Drivers are better optimized
- GTX 970 will overclock decently
- will run almost all new games 1080p @ highest settings
- easily upgraded to SLi

 

[ael00]

I can tell you personally that gtx 970 performs very well on modded skyrim.

The 3.5 gb issue is there but people exxagerate over it. I am pushing it at 4gb, and get 40~ fps average on 1080p monitor with over 60+ graphic (!) mods installed including 4k textures wich are a complete overshoot on my resolution with Realvision ENB. When it goes over the 3.5k limit you get a few missed frames, it does NOT cause CONSTANT fps loss. Note that I am OC-ing the card at 1510 core clock and 7960 memory clock. I very much doubt that an R9-390 can come close to these clock speeds on 1080p as the OC headroom is poor.

In consequence I would suggest the 970, unless you are planning to go 2k or 4k ( which you are not ). There is absolutely zero point in getting an 8gb card on 1080p gaming, as the processing power simply doesn not handle 8gb memory.. why do you think even the gtx 980ti which performs almost double has only 6gb ?!

Lets not even bring into discussion that skyrim runs on DX9 which means all VRAM needs to be mirrored in system memory, meaning your 8gb ram will be MAXED even on a 970 with a loaded card.

The 970 is a superior card in every possible way on 1080p gaming.

 

[brookfang]

But is it even worth it to upgrade from my old Asus G74SX to this new rig? I don't plan on overclocking because I'll mess it up. To stay in budget I'll have to drop to an i5 from my laptop's i7, but I've heard that desktop processors are much more powerful than laptop processors.

 

[Victorion]

But is it even worth it to upgrade from my old Asus G74SX to this new rig? I don't plan on overclocking because I'll mess it up. To stay in budget I'll have to drop to an i5 from my laptop's i7, but I've heard that desktop processors are much more powerful than laptop processors.

i7 2630qm (your laptop cpu) is quite a bit weaker and slower than the i5 4460. You can´t count on the Core i7 always being superior to Core i5. The difference between i5 and i7 is mainly that i7 can have more physical cores, and also has virtual cores. There are other difference, such as larger cache in i7 etc.

As for laptop cpus vs desktop cpus,
Laptop cpu´s and mobile cpu´s in general, also prioritize power efficiency and integrated graphics with performance - that constraint that doesn't apply as much to desktop chips.